This exhibition is drawn from the historical, modern and contemporary art collection of Museum London and loans from contemporary artists. They are integrated with objects from the material culture collection to weave together a story of London, Ontario and its environs. The title is borrowed from Lucy Lippard's 1998 book Lure of the Local, which examined the impact and importance of local knowledge. In the book, the American author and curator argued that a true sense of place leads to the creation of a community, "…which grounds the individual in a web of social, political and historical relations [and] art appears as a tool for rediscovering the wholeness within a multi-centred society." But as artist and critic Douglas Davis wrote in 1976, "Art is not life [but] it is an activity encircled by life, upon which it depends."

Featured in the exhibition are 19th century works by James Hamilton and William Lees Judson; modern period, 20th century works by Edward Glen, Mary Healey and Albert Templar; contemporary work by Ron Benner, Jack Chambers, Clark McDougall and Gerard Pas; and loan works by Scott Conarroe and Sky Glabush. In addition, Richard Storms has developed a site installation and exhibition introduction for the Lawson Gallery stairwell, which highlights the four "Londons" in the world against a "constellation array" of LED lights.